all stations come over to mithis is for real this time. step seven point two one two. verify and lock. command is locked. five seconds. three, two, one. standing by for capture. the most innovative software on the planet... dragon is captured. is connecting today's leading companies to places beyond it. siemens. answers. welcome back to "morning joe." it's time to talk about what we learned today, mike, what did you learn? >> joe, i'll tell you, i learned that the next time al gore is on with us, i'm going to insist that someone be present to provide sub titles to what he's talking about because he was so far above my head, i didn't pick up on it. >> low low bar though to do

that. >> that is a low bar. >> yeah, i don't think that's -- >> jon, what did you learn? into it was a big morning. you had al gore talking about the future, bill gates talking about eradicating disease. a reminder in -- we talk about politics all the time but big stuff's going on. >> no doubt. mike barnicle, if it's way too early, what time is it? >> that would be time for "morning joe," joe but right now it's time for our old pal chuck todd. take it away. >> thank you, big mike. with president obama delivering a rallying cry on immigration all eyes focus on senator marco rubio. the rising republican star who will end up as either the man who carries conservatives to a deal or the one who walks wa from one as they cheer him on. is egypt unraveling? less than six months into the job, the country's new president is facing growing chaos in the streets in cairo and other cities. we'll take you there live in

just minutes for the latest. is the military ready to step in? and less than one hour from now a senate hearing on guns. we'll hear from wayne lapierre air and former congresswoman gabrielle giffords. this is "the daily rundown." also developing this morning, news that the economy unexpectedly contracted in the last quarter of 2012. most of it is a result of weaker expo exports, decreased military spending and other factors. we'll be keeping an eye on the markets this morning to see how they react to this. there was an expectation that there would be some slowdown in the economy, but an actual contraction did catch a bunch of analysts off guard. let's get right to my first reads of the morning. speaking of the economy and jobs, they continue to be issues. the public says they care most about. but it isn't dominating capitol hill. does that change today, by the way? but guns and immigration are

taking up most of the political oxygen, just about an hour from now. the next phase of the fight begins on the gun issue. former congresswoman gabrielle giffords returns to capitol hill two years after she was seriously injured in the mass shooting that killed six people in arizona. she will be joined by her husband, mark kelly. they face off with wayne lapierre. it's the first senate hearing on gun violence. >> the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. >> i'd like to be able to sit down with the nra at some point and talk to them about this. i know a lot of members of the nra. i've thought about joining at one point. this is just happening way too frequently. we can't have another 20 first graders murdered in their classroom. >> lapierre has released the statement he plans to deliver today. unsurprising will he, he will denounce a proposed assault

weapons ban. somewhat more surprisingly, he will come out aggressively against the background checks bill which a lot of folks thought the nra would quietly not fight too hard. he'll say this "law abiding gun owners will not accept blame for the acts of violent or deranges. criminals, have been around for over 100 years. background checks will never be universal because criminals will never submit to them." giffords and kelly will appear on the panel several weeks after they will launch an official lobbying effort called americans for responsible solutions. their group again reminded congress last night on their facebook page that after a string of mass shootings, that congress has failed to act on guns. also taking on lapierre today will be california senator dianne feinstein who has called the nra venal and repeated her

criticism yesterday. >> they have fought virtually every kind of regulation. the time has come to change course. >> but her new assault weapons ban faces long odds in the senate and though she said she believes the democratic votes are there for it, even the committee's chairman patrick leahy who voted for the 1994 version of the ban has declined to endorse it this time around. >> the assault weapon ban, did it work? we ought to ask that question. you know, i'm not looking for something that's symbolic. i'm looking for something that makes people safer. >> and then there's senate majority leader harry reid who clearly decided not to endorse it again yesterday. >> she believes in it fervently. i admire her for that. i'll take a look at that as i've indicated to you folks. we're going to have votes on all kinds of issues dealing with guns. >> but that's the point. there are going to be votes and

here's why. democratic leaders are pretty much rallying around the background check legislation. >> we should ensure that those seeking to purchase guns do so with real background checks. the fact that we cannot do everything that could help should not paralyze us from doing anything that can help. >> and new york senator chuck schumer is an gres bely working tom coburn trying to get him to sign on to schumer's background check bill. does the nra's line in the sand on universal background checks end up scaring coburn, a republican from oklahoma, away? politics of this though, of course, are tricky for democrats. a new quinnipiac poll shows the new york governor andrew cuomo is still very popular but his rating dropped a whopping 15 points in one month. the one big change, gun control effort. the committee includes staunch

conservatives like at the time cruz of texas and jeff sessions of alabama. late yesterday, cruz and lindsey graham revealed they wanted to bring in firearms to demonstrate to members how to use them, but "it appears the requirements to secure the weapons at the hearing are so impractical as to be unworkable." one more point on the assault weapons ban. it's going to get brought to a vote in the senate. here's why. there are a lot of senate democrats. probably enough to prevent even a majority supporting the bill who want the ability to show their constituents that they're going to vote against some of this gun legislation. think of the red state democrats or the assault weapons bill will probably come to the floor and you will see democrats vote against it. that is a strategy some democrats believe in order to get some of the red state democrats on board universal background checks and perhaps the clip issue. movingen 0 to immigration. what exactly is florida senator

marco rubio up to when it comes to the bipartisan senate deal he publicly supports? he has acted as a one-man band trying to frankly defang conservative opposition to the deal and mute critics of reform in the past including rush limbaugh who's show rubio appeared on yesterday. >> the border security never happened and the same language is being used today as was used in the 1986. >> i agree with you. this is going to be a challenge if in fact this bill does not have the real triggers in there, if there is not language in this bill that guarantees that nothing else will happen unless these enforcement mechanisms are in place, i won't support it. >> so is that a veiled threat by rubio, an outline of how he might leave the bipartisan senate group or is this more of the can kabuki theater i was explaining to you yesterday? is rubio courting opponents by painting himself as a reluctant

player. yesterday he slipped in a reference to the next guy to hold the oval office. >> i know the president's going to take us in the direction that i would not be comfortable with. i'm just trying to do the best i can with what's already a tough situation. >> obama doesn't care about enforcing existing laws. so people say why will he enforce anything that's new. he sued arizona. >> i just remind everybody obama is not going to be president forever. he won't be president forever. we'll have another president one day. >> so rubio's charm offensive didn't just win over rush though. by the time they wrapped up their conversation, rush was efusive. >> what you are doing is admirable and noteworthy. are you recognizing reality. you're trumpeting it, shouting. is that guy good or what, folks? marco rubio. >> so did rubio, is that mission accomplished to get conservatives on board when rush

limbaugh says are you recognizing reality, which is the argument rubio's making on why he's doing reform. anyway, using the bully pulpit in las vegas, the president used his own form of a veiled threat on immigration. he praised the senate bill but warned congress if they don't act, he will. >> if congress is unable to move forward in a timely fashion, i will send up a bill based on my proposal and insist that they vote on it right away. >> while senator john mccain said he appreciated the president's speech, meaning he didn't criticize it, rubio released a statement that was more critical saying "the president's speech left the impression that he believes reforming immigration quickly is more important than reforming immigration right." but don't be misled here. here's something this debate is not about, wls obama wants to use immigration as a way 0 club republicans or get a bill. it's not a question. the idea that anyone outside of political partisans believe that the president doesn't want to

actually sign legislation now to fulfill a campaign promise is a bit naive. maybe that was the calculus in 2010. it was not the calculus this time. sure the president is using campaign tactics to pressure congress but he wants the legislative win. he already got the political win. it's called a second term. finally, friday is hillary clinton's last day in office. now that her successor has been confirmed, she is talking to the press, including andrea mitchell in a series of exit interviews. yesterday clinton weighed in on what may be the most underreports story in washington, the unrest taking place in egypt right now. clinton stood by one of the most consciousal foreign policy decisions the administration made that gets little little -- the ouster of mubarak. she responded to the head of the army who said that the state could fall part. >> that would lead to incredible chaos and violence on a scale that would be devastating for

egypt and the region. >> clinton also commented on the russia reset. once perceived as a foreign policy success now has erode the to the point the russians won't even let american families adopt russian children. >> i think we just have to wait and see what the real objectives of the new russian leadership are. we thought it was self-defeating for them to take the actions they did, throwing out usaid. that hurts the russian people. i thought it was tragic that they stopped adoptions, especially those that were already in train. so there are issues. we will keep working on them, but we'll also draw lines where we disagree and seek out when we must. >> interesting she referred to it as they. we know when all this changed, when putin got back into the presidency. clinton offered new ways of offering nothing new on 2016. >> in december, you told my friend barbara walters that you had no intention of running for

president. >> right. >> in december of 2001, you told tim russert you had no intention of running for president. >> and i didn't. >> so things change. but do you feel that joe biden as the vice president has the right of first refusal as it were within the earth? or is it an open competition if you decide to run? >> well, american politics is always an open competition but i have no, you know, i have no position on any of this. >> andrea got a little out of her. politics is always an open competition. in that interview, she talked about how the hard fought 2008 campaign, president obama and bill clinton made an mends. sheer is what she said first here on "the daily rundown." >> what was the break through the turning point for president clinton and president obama do you think? >> i think bill certainly worked very hard for the president in the '08 general election.

he also consulted with the white house on some of the economic issues. and was very committed to you know, being as good of a supporter as he possibly could. and they just got to know each other more than they ever had before. i don't think there had been an opportunity for them to do that before this last four years. >> all started in that 2010. tuck see the rest of clinton's interview with andrea mitchell. nobody knows the clintons better than andrea mitchell at our network, andrea mitchell reports at 1:00. >> up next, senator lamar alexander will be here next to talk. plus, egypt is on the brink again two years after the fall of mubarak, the military chief of that country warns the civilian government could collapse. but first a look ahead. the president's schedule today.

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we need congress to act on a comprehensive approach that finally deals with the 11 million undocumented immigrants who are in the country right now. that's what we need. >> the push for immigration reform continues. the president sitting down for interviews with spanish language media outlets today. of course, including our pal, jose diaz-balart over at

telemundo. the president has embraced the plan put forward by the bipartisan group of eight senators. can the plan find enough backing among congress? joining me now senior senator from ten pen. lamar alexander. a lot to get to. i want to get to a bunch of stuff. i'll keep my questions fairly short if you agree to keep your answers fairly short. let's start with immigration. are you inclined to be supportive of this group of eight or not? >>, of course, i am. i mean, conservatives ought to be leading the charge for a legal system of immigration. i mean, we want the rule of law. we want citizens to learn english and to learn our country and to be a part of it. so, i'm going do my best to work with them. i think the fact that we have such senators of such stature working on it is a good sign. >> so you are inclined, assuming that these principles you support, so you and the president agree. you support the principles with which these eight senators have put out? >> well, i support their effort.

now, the way we're supposed to do things it's supposed to go through committee. we're supposed to have amendments, a lot is in the details but this is a good start and it's one i'm going to try to create an environment in which they succeed. this is something that only the president and congress can do. states can't do it. in our country, you have to become an american to become a citizen. we have to have a system of legal immigration. >> let's go to guns. the one bill that seems to have -- there's two bills that have some bipartisan support. one has to do with gun tracking that your colleague republican mark kirk has signed on to with new york democrat kristin gillibrand. the other has to do with universal background checks. can you envision a way of supporting the universal background checks bill? >> chuck, i'm going to wait and see on all of these bills. i think video games is a bigger problem than guns because video games affect people. but the first amendment limits what we can doing about video

games. the second amendment to the constitution limits wa we can do about guns. so the details matter to me. i'm going to be skeptical of any of these proposals and examine them in light of the second amendment to the constitution. >> so reading between the lines, you're more inclined to be supportive of the immigration efforts, less inclined to be support i have of some of these gun control measures? >> yes. >> fair enough. i want to go to recess appointments. i know you have called for, you believe there should be the immediate resignation of the labor relations board members in the recess appointments that the president made. i want to ask you about the ruling itself. it was much broader than the lawsuit you guys brought. was it too broad? >> it was a breathtaking decision. it basically said what the president and the congress have been doing since about 1867 is unconstitutional. and what it really says is. >> that's scary, by the way. >> no, it's not. >> that a court is saying this. that's over 100 years of potential precedent. >> it suggests -- it's a good thing we have courts.

what it's saying is that in this day and time we don't need any recess appointments because they were created by the founders for a time when sam houston had to take a steamboat and stagecoach and a horse to washington to be a senator. and there were large gaps between the session in one year and the session in the next year. it basically said recess appointments are only for the recess between annual sessions for vacancies that occur during that time. and today, there's -- i mean, there's no recess. >> that means though a president of one party could be in the white house, get elected, there could be a political party that controls the senate on the other side. and because of this -- so then the president las no recourse if that united states senate of an opposite party of the president decides we're shutting down the confirmation process because frankly, you know that can be done. is that -- i mean, you know, there are no recourse at all for the executive branch here? >> yeah, the next election is the recourse for the executive

branch. >> that could be four years. could you hold up cabinet appointments for four years. >> it could be two years. of course, it could. the founders put that in the constitution there about 1 1100 positions in the government that require advice and consent. it's there for a purpose. i was nominated by the first president bush to be education secretary. the senate held me up for three months. they had a right to do it. so the president has to keep sending people until he finds someone who can gain the support of the senate. that's one of the checks we have against an imperial presidency. >> you hope the supreme court upholds this broad ruling that basically eliminates recess appointments? >> i do, but i doubt they will. but i suspect they will narrow the decision at least to say that the president can't decide when the senate's in session. the senate can decide.

and as long as the senate can decide when it's in session, there won't be any recess appointments because we'll be in session all the time to prevent them. >> you've given me a lot of straight talk this morning. where are you on chuck haig? >> where am i? i'm going to listen to his hearing. i'm going to meet him next week and then i'll make a decision about how to vote. >> are you inclined in either direction, you know? you admitted where you're leaning on immigration and guns. are you leaning in either direction on chuck hagel? >> i'm inclined to listen to the hearing and then talk with chuck whom i know, and ask him some questions. then i'll make a decisioning. >> you don't sound like you're ready then. >> no, i can't say it any plainer than that. >> fair enough. senator lamar alexander, senior senator from tennessee. thank you, sir. >> thank you, chuck. developing now, we just learned that massachusetts governor deval patrick will name his temporary place holder appointment at 11:00 a.m. today. remember how this massachusetts law works.

they have to appoint somebody who cannot run for the position. that's what he's doing today. will it be vickie kennedy, barney frank, will it be somebody that washington doesn't know? but that duval does? coming up, the stock market was pubbing near all-time highs. how will wall street react to the news that the economy shrank last quarter? plus we're live in cairo where violence rages for a seventh straight day. the political paralysis cos end up forcing the military to take back control from the president. first today's trivia question, since 1947, which is the only state to produce two chairmen of the senate armed services committee? the answer and more coming up on t on the daily run you". it's red lobster's 30 shrimp! for $11.99 pair any two shrimp selections on one plate! like mango jalapeño shrimp and parmesan crunch shrimp. just $11.99. offer ends soon! i'm ryon stewart, and i sea food differently.

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are prone to infections or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. ask your rheumatologist about humira, to help relieve your pain and stop further joint damage. well, in egypt, political turmoil and increasingly violent street protests are pushing the country to the brink of its

second revolution in two years. could that possibly be? for the last week what began as rallies to mark the two-year anniversary of mau barak's ouster turned into riot protesting morsi for defying calls for a unit aught government trying to return the country to authoritarian rule. violence exploded in three cities, killed more than 60 people and prompting morsi to impose cure fuse but they have only bed to fuel anti-government anger, now, egypt's defense minister warns the entire country may be nearing collapse, raising concerns the army may be called in to restore order. nbc's ayman mohyeldin is live for us in cairo. when i heard that warning from the egyptian military considering the past of egypt, was that the first warning sign that hey, the military may step in here regardless of whether

president morsi asks or not? >> well, this is actually the second time in about a month and a half that they've issued these stern warnings. if you remember in early december, when there was the constitutional crisis when president morsi essentially gave himself unprecedented powers. that also triggered a wave of street protests. the military tried to keep tear distance from the politics but that's why they also are the subject of so much speculation that people are calling on them to intervene sometimes. and people are also afraid they may not just sit by and watch this political difference rip this country apart. the comments that came yesterday were extremely alarming because the defense minister said that the political intransigence by both sides and inability to resolve differences could lead to the collapse of the state, and that would really be devastating for this entire country. >> i can't help, when you hear this and the way egypt looks like it's dividing itself, it seems reminiscent of pakistan and how its fledgling democracy

works between the civilian and the military relationship. >> well, there are a lot of the chronic problems in egypt. no doubt for six years, egypt's major institution was the military. they were the major power brokers, in fact, all of the previous leaders of this country came from the military. mohamed morsi is the first civilian leader to be elected. a lot of people feel that the military and the muslim brotherhood have cut a deal. a lot of people feel the military still pulse a lot of strings behind the scenes of what is happening here. you have a lot of institutional problems in the state as the country tries to grapple with new realities of trying to build democratic institutions that for so many years have been anything but c democratic. >> how can morsi end this crisis? >>. >> well, right now, he feels he has a democratic mandate. he has a large popular base of support. he won the elections. his constitution was passed in a nationwide referendum. his party won a majority in the parliament. he feels he has the mandate to govern from where he sits. however, the political

opposition says they need to form a national unity government. egypt's is politics need to be more pluralistic. you need to have the minority represented. that's why we are in this stalemate. the problem is neither side is willing to compromise and that's why it boys over into the streets and we see tensions and the violence. >> ayman mohyeldin on the scene in egypt. will still be there for us all week and month long. thanks very much. turning now to the markets. how will investors react to the word that the u.s. economy shrank in the last quarter of 201? actually shrinking, the first time that's happened in over three years. defense spending cuts, fewer exports, slow inventory growth contributed to the contraction of .1%. a sharp reversal from 3.1% growth in the third quarter. economists say it's not as bad as it looks though and that

one-time factors are largely to blame. one more note. estimates from adp and moody's are raising hopes for friday's jobs report. today's data found that nearly 200,000 private sector jobs were created in january. that's better than expected. does that counter balance what's happening today on in the markets when it comes to the contraction issue? next, former senator george mitchell, a man of many hats, majority leader of the united states senate. middle east negotiator to the major leagues. he's done pretty much everything. we're going to dig into a lot of it. that's why we've invited him on because this seems to be all of his expertise is needed to be tapped into these days from baseball to the middle east. plus, president obama's popularity it's a three-year personal high in one poll. what's behind the surge? talk about that. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. i'm jessica simpson.

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senate leader u.s. district

journals peace envoy, some of the hats george mitchell has worn during his 50-year career in public service. he's also a veteran of many a political battle being fought on capitol hill right now. he was a fresh monica novotny democrat from maine when he cast his vote on immigration reform. as senate majority leader under clinton, represided over the fight that ended up passing gun control legislation in 1994. from there he came a key player on the international stage first as the peace envoy in ireland, and more recently as president obama's peace envoy to the middle east. with that kind of resume, you may know him as the man who wrote the book on steroids in major league baseball. with me now, former senate majority leader george mitchell. it's nice to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> i want to start with the middle east, the upheaval in egypt and ask you a broader policy question. you served as the envoy for president obama for about two years. is the president -- is the u.s. policy in the middle east

stability or an expansion of democracy? >> i don't think they're mutually exclusive. i think they go together. and i believe that our policy should be both to encourage stability, to encourage a peace agreement that would permit israel to live in peace and security with its neighbors, and at the same time, to encourage the establishment of democratic roots in the various countries in that region. i think they all go together. >> is it fair to say mubarak was a better partner in the mideast process than morsi in egypt, for instance? >> yes, of course, that's fair to say but that overlooks all of the other factors involved. the egyptian revolution was indigenous. it was the egyptian people expressing themselves, and while it's very clear that in terms of the middle east peace process he was much better, it's also clear that there were many other

factors involved in his governance and the revolution by the people of egypt. one of the important questions that americans have to ask is, do we really believe in democracy which by its very terms means the right of self-governance, the word democracy is a combination of two greek words, demos people, kratzi the rule of. it's difficult because the right of people to govern themselves produces governments and policies counter to our interests. so it's a very fundamental question. i've often had people in the middle east ask me whether we really believe what's in the declaration of independence. so it's a hard thing but over time, i think it is best that we maintain our ideals and pursue our support for democratic institutions even though it doesn't come easy. >> what are saudi arabian allies saying about it? >> obviously they would not agree and we maintain good relations with them because it's up to them to determine their way of government.

but we support democracy where and when the people stand up and express themselves in that way. but we don't force it on others or at least we should not. >> is there a lesson learned from how we handled mubarak to how we deal with a bahrain, saudi arabia and some of these gulf states? >> well, there is a myth which is held by some in the middle east and some in this country that somehow president obama could have kept mubarak in office if he just done more. the more is never specified, of course, but the only way it could have been done was through military intervention and it's unthinkable that an american president would authorize a military intervention to support a nondemocratic government. and so the reality is, what happened there was an indigenous event and you have to really respect the views of the people in the respective countries. the second point, chuck, which is very important to keep in mind is that while we think of all these countries in the

region as the same, they're mostly arab, mostly muslim. in fact, they're very different countries, different histories, different culture, different political policies just as the u.s. and mexico side by side are very different countries. you can't think of them all the same. they are different and must be treated differently. >> as you watch the immigration and gun debate take place right now on capitol hill, what's the same and what's different from what you think -- are there lessons that you think do apply for how the senate should handle this now is the way you handled guns, for instance in, '94 and as a participant in immigration reform? >> well, it's obviously a bigger country. there are more people. there are more guns. there are more deaths. and it's an increasingly polarized country. so it's very hard to do. back and it's not very long ago, 15, 20 years, we had -- >> a lifetime. >> i had a very good personal

relationship with bob dole, the senate majority leader and i can recall, although we battled fiercely over gun control particularly over the brady bill, we came together as individuals and as political leaders in all of these issues, and i think that's one of the big differences now. >> all right. i got to ask you about steroids. big story down in my home noun miami of yet another sort of black market steroids operation that was helping a lot of major league baseball players get access to steroids. you did this, big report a few years ago. where is -- what is this -- is baseball -- baseball's not yet clean. is that fair to say? >> well, that is fair to say but you have to keep it in context. look, every society has laws against robbery and murder. and yet, everyone knows that robbery and murder are not going to end. it's managing an ongoing human problem. that's the case with performance-enhancing drugs in all sports. right now, chuck, in many parts

of the world, including in the united states, there are people engaged in illegal businesses trying to develop new performance enhancing drugs that can escape detection. they try to stay one step ahead of the regulators and the testers. first there was steroids. then there was human growth hormone. no others. so nobody should think of this as a circumstance in which there's going to come a point in time when there will be no drugs in any sports of any kind. it's a problem of managing, keeping pace and reducing the incentives to use and part of that is increasing vigilance, regulation and pub issuement. >> does the federal government need to get more involved in this? >> not at the moment. i don't think so. they have been in the past. but let's wait and see what happened in florida, chuck, the story which you mentioned. we have to keep in mind the document that was referred to in all these reports has not been authenticated. there have been denials although everyone in the past denied it. let's wait and see what happens.

>> former senate majority leader george pitching, a man of many hats. i try to make you wear as many of them as i could today. thank you, sir. >> good to be with you. breaking news. out of new england. the boston globe is reporting that massachusetts governor deval patrick will name his former chief of staff, mo cowen as the interim massachusetts senator. there's a picture right there. the governor is expected to make that place holder appointment at 11:00 a.m. today. he will be massachusetts' second african-american u.s. senator. don't forget old ed brook back in the '70s. our update gaggle will be here next. first it's the white house soup of the day, tomato basil. whatever. not a day for tomato basil. kind of a day for gazpacho. we'll be right back.

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okaying? president obama's favorability rating is back up with some of the highest numbers since his first year in office. according to a brand-new "washington post"/abc poll, 60% of americans have a favorable impression of the president while 37% have an unfavorable view of him. job ratings they didn't do that. another poll has it in the low 50s. job and personal eventually do sometimes coincide. let's bringing in nbc capital correspondence luke russert, from the center for american progress or the outside white house, nira tan deny and former republican governor everybody maryland, bob ehrlich. luke is, the president's poll ratings,ing if they continue, there's not an outlier and this is sort of the new normal for him lives in the high 50s. lives in the 60s. in fact, on capitol hill. >> significant. especially significant i think heading into the 2014 midterms which is our next deadline. but i will also say that president obama is not

necessarily respected on capitol hill for how he deals with the institution as you very well know. the joe bidens had to pull many things across the finish line. it's not because president obama has a very high approval rating that people are willing to dow him. i do think you'll see on issues like immigration a real move in order to give a popular president who's going to use his bully pulpit go on the road to move something like this. they get a guy like rubio that provides all the cover they need, that type of -- >> you're part of the -- coastal republican. >> surviving. >> you're immigration. >> where are you on immigration? >> long overdue. got to get done. >> you okay with this plan that's circulating? >> it has to be worked out. i think general parameters are there for a deal. i do believe. but i also believe with regard to his popularity now, it means nothing what our opinion is at this point. it means nothing because events unfold, obviously. three months, six months, nine

months down the road. but it's also a function of winning, by the way. your crack staff gave us some of the numbers. reagan 72, clinton 65. bush had the least, very controversial. >> this is in '04. >> this one is pretty easy. there was no controversy. >> on this immigration reform, there's some liberals who say and progressives, this bill could be, you know, the idea they're going to delay a pathway tonight citizenship but where are you on this? are you okay with waiting for the senate to go? >>, i disagree. i think these numbers are important because the president is front loading his agenda. he's pushing it right now. his numbers matter right now. if they were ten points lower, we would be seeing a lot on the hill about doing they of these things. at the starting gates we have aggressive bill. we think this bill is an important step forward. it's not perfect. but compromise is never perfect. so it's great that you have these four republicans showing

leadership so early. we're not even in february yet. and they're really, you know, they're pushing at the starting gate. >> his numbers do not matter a great deal with house republicans, trust me. >> with house republicans but senate republicans are a different story. >> this is a different issue though as opposed to guns and some other issues. this is an issue where a lot of republicans for a long time said let's get something done. >> this is the issue republican >> the the dream act two years ago. >> harry reid, if he had kept the five democrats that went, tester, walkus -- the democrats were not on board for that, remember that. >> there was 11 republicans. >> immigration is going to come out of the senate. >> absolutely. absolutely. >> it has to come out of the senate. >> i think we're going to talk about -- maybe talk about

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you're looking at live pictures on capitol hill from the start of the senate judiciary hearing. we expect to hear from gabby giffords. luke russert and former mayor bob ehrlich. maryland republican, can you support these gun measures? national background check, something like that?

>> national registry is a nonstarter obviously. >> what do you have -- back ground checks? >> i think a lot of reasonable people, second amendment folks would be willing to look at background checks but the rest of the stuff is silly. choosing some semiautomatics and leaving out others makes no sense. >> are you okay with assault weapons being banned as a political free vote, letting democrats who want to vote against a gun control bill do it so you get universal background checks? >> i'm not okay with it. i do think -- >> it's the realty that may happen. >> high capacity magazines, we can all joke about it but a month ago a little over a month ago there were kids killed with high capacity magazines. and the idea that everyone is fine with that is not true -- >> point is being used as a political strategy. >> i understand. i think we need to make

progress. i'm all for -- >> at some point somebody has to answer, anything about crime -- >> the answer is no. >> assault weapons bill, no. >> that's not true. >> shame less plugs. >> house of cards, kevin spacey's new show, went to the premooer last night. best since "west wing". >> i'm going to give a plug to think progress for doing coverage on the issue of the republicans trying to jerry manneder the electoral college. >> the ravens and super bowl. john harbaugh, congratulations. >> jack harbaugh. >> tomorrow chuck hagel's

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